IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

We found out just an hour ago that we are having a little baby girl!!! We are soooo thrilled. Another granddaughter for my parents!! (this makes 4!) I can decorate her nursery all in pink!! Even though I kept having dreams that it was a boy, I am so happy to be having a little girl. And her ultrasound pictures are so cute! I'm on campus right now so I can't scan them, but this is the best I can do. I think she looks just like her daddy :). She is going to be such a daddy's girl. You should see how she already has him wrapped around her finger, and she isn't even born! And she is totally healthy too. No birth defects or anythings. We are just so happy. Which is why I'm blogging about it instead of doing homework.

This is her face:

Ouch

I hate winter. Especially in Utah. I can't even remember the last time it was above freezing. Unfortunately, neither can our front steps. They have been covered with a solid layer of ice for the past month or so. Yesterday, I finally slipped and fell. Lets be honest, it was probably inevitable. I fell all the down the stairs and landed hard on my rump. Luckily, I managed to hold on to the bowl of brownies and ice cream I was carrying. Unluckily, I now have a huge bruise. I can live with that. I just hope I didn't hurt the baby. That's what really scared me. Lance promised me the baby will be fine. I guess we'll find out.... if it comes out with two heads or severe spinal damage, I'll know what to blame.

In other news, yesterday was Lance's 29th birthday! He wanted to keep things simple (actually, he didn't want to celebrate it at all), but I insisted on marking the occasion. I spent all afternoon making him 3 miniature pies (coconut cream, chocolate, and peach) at his request, then when he got home we went to Olive Garden and then went to see Tron. I also got him a Kindle, which he loves and hasn't put down since he got it. Because we were so busy, I didn't get any pictures of this momentous occasion. Surprise surprise. But we had a lot of fun.

We also bought our crib this evening! Yay!! One big check mark on the list. I am so happy. I absolutely adore this crib from Babies R Us, and it will be mine in 7-14 business days, some assembly required.
One last thought: I heart the Bachelor. This season is shaping up to be as entertaining and dramatic as ever!

My little apple, 15 weeks old

That's right, our little growing fetus is now the size of an apple! (4 inches from head to rump). Although from how big it's made my belly, you would think it was larger. Baby's accomplishments in the past couple weeks include facial expressions, peeing, and sensing light. So far we haven't felt any movement, but we have a doctor's appointment this week and are looking forward to hearing the heartbeat again! We are super excited to find out the gender sometime in the next couple weeks. Keep your fingers crossed for a boy or a girl! (We'll be happy with either). My morning sickness is gone and now I am just hungry almost all the time. Most of my clothes don't fit but I am still to small for maternity clothes; it's an awkward stage. I just feel fat, even though I've gained hardly any weight. In fact, I weight less than when I found out I was pregnant. This picture makes me look bigger than I am.
We've started considering some names but nothing definite yet. Suggestions anyone? We will put them in the hat, as my sister would say. I think it's a metaphorical hat, but I could be wrong. Although I'm holding off on a lot of shopping until we find out if it's a he or a she, we are going to be buying a crib soon! I can't wait to start decorating my little nursery. Lance and I are just so excited to be parents. Most of my apprehension left when the vomiting did, and now I am just thrilled. Although this baby came as somewhat of a surprise to us, the timing really couldn't be more perfect. I am going to graduate this spring, and classes end just a couple weeks before my June 23rd due date. Then I can stay home all day with my baby! I just hope I can figure out how to take care of a baby before then. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially by Baby. We are super grateful for all the support we have gotten from friends and family, and no one has been judgmental (to our faces....)! Now I get to go sort out the clothes that I wont be able to wear for a while from my closet, and get ready for the Bachelor tonight! My favorite part of January. :)


PS On a side note, being woken up this morning by a bunch of firemen about to break into our condo was not the best part of my week. Turns out a pipe burst next door and flooded our basement. It ruined some of our food storage :(, but luckily didn't spread too far. But we've had various people (firemen, board members, HOA reps, insurance agents, carpet cleaners) in and out all day, ripping out carpet and sideboards, and they'll be back tomorrow at 8 am. Embarrassing for me because I haven't even showered. Hopefully it will all get taken care of eventually. Right now there's a big fan running down there. It's like being on the carpet crew again, except I don't have to work.

A milllion 1's

I started writing this post at 1:11 on 1/1/11. No joke. Pretty cool, I know. I am so excited for the new year. Even though 2010 was the best year of my life so far, I can't wait to see what the new year will bring! Last night Lance and I were talking about what we are anticipating the most. Included: a baby!, graduation, and perhaps moving, buying a house, and a new career. Who knows how things could play out.

The last couple months have been great with a few rough spots. Morning sickness= awful. Nevertheless, we dived headfirst into the holiday season. Halloween was awesome, mostly because we got to go visits my parents in Colorado, and see Merrill, Jamie, and Darci (my oldest niece-- what a cutie) as well! I don't have any pics because they are on my old computer (thank you husband dearest for my Christmas present! I heart my Macbook) and no way am I going through the effort to get them. Plus, I'm at the airport in Albuquerque, so I couldn't even if I wanted to.

Thanksgiving was delicious but a little overwhelming. We decided to do a full Turkey dinner, from scratch, on our own. It was more work than I anticipated, especially since I was so sick that I could barely eat anything that day (silly fetus...). But I sure enjoyed the leftovers. Here is a little sample of our feast. I'm getting hungry just looking at it. Then again, I'm almost always hungry now.

Carving his first turkey!

We started our celebration of the Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving by buying and decorating a Christmas tree and decorating the condo. Our small supply of seasonal items is growing!

We also went up to temple square to see the lights, and mostly to look for my bffffff Marissa Schroedter. She left on her mission to Temple Square the first week of November and I miss her ever so much. (I hope she reads this and recognizes what a good friend I am in 16 months). Anyway, we wandered around forever in the cold and never found her. It was disappointing, but we have plans to go back. I heart her. Sad face for missing her.

Christmas break was sooo nice. I left for Dallas on the 18th to meet my brand new niece, Eve!! She is the most tiny, precious, perfect little thing I have ever seen. I hope my baby can compare. I got to spend almost a week with my sister and her husband and try to help out, although really I just monopolized the little one. I love her.

Little Christmas dress that we bought her!

It was hard to leave. It was also super awesome to see my brother Evan for a day.

Lance came to join me on the 21st. It was hard for me to be away from him even just for a few days. Mushy and pathetic, I know. But he takes such good care of me! On the 23rd we flew out to New Mexico to be with Lance's family for Christmas. Even though I missed my family, I love being with his for the holidays. It's always tons of fun. We got to meet our 6 month old nephew, Cal. He is adorable. And giant. He is the same size as his cousin Gracie who is a year. The Brunsons have the happiest babies ever. I have never seen such cheerful little ones, even though they were both sick (and got all the rest of us sick). Anyway, we had a great time just hanging out with family, eating, playing speed scrabble, and trying to control our sneezing and coughing. Lance's parents/grandparents are so generous. I got a ton of cute maternity clothes for Christmas. Now I don't have to go buy them. Also, my father in law got President Bush's book for Christmas (ok he got it from us) and I read almost the whole thing. It was so good!

This is literally one of only two pictures I took in NM. Too bad. But what cuties.

Can I just say how nice it was to have a two week break from school? Although I got some of my best grades ever last semester, it was not pleasant. I am dreading school starting again next week. Even though I am only taking 3 classes, I saved all of my hardest ones for last. Darn. Hopefully I have it in me to get through one more semester. Then freedom!! Well not really. Babies take even more attention than school, I'm pretty sure. And the consequences of failure are a lot more severe....

Ugh I just found out our flight back to Salt Lake it delayed. This trip has been the worst. Between Lance and I, we had 5 flights, and every single one of them has been delayed. I hate flying. And airports. From now on, we're driving everywhere. I mean it.

Ok wow long post. Serves me right. And you, for reading this whole thing. Don't you have better things to do with your time? I am going to try to post regular updates about the pregnancy so anyone who wants to can stay informed. Ha. We'll see how that goes. Happy New Year!

Spirit of the Season!

Lance and I have totally gotten into the Halloween spirit. I LOVE fall, and everything that comes with it. But mostly I love pumpkins. We set up an awesome Halloween display on our porch the first weekend of October, and tonight we carved pumpkins!
Our scarecrow used to have a face but day after we created him (mostly out of stuff from DI) it rained super hard and ruined it. So we just put his hat over the face.
Its fun watching Lance-- he gets all into it and is such a perfectionist, whereas I usually give up about halfway through. So I never do complicated designs.
The finished product. Lance's is the big one, and I did the other two.
All lit up!
We are also looking forward to spring, and a couple weekends ago we got super dirty and planted a bunch of tulip and daffodil bulbs. It took forever because our soil is so rocky. I hope its not too much for the poor bulbs. I cant wait till they bloom! Only 5 more months....
(Autumn) Season's Greetings! Enjoy the month-- I know we will.
(ok no makeup folks)

Well folks, we're back. Boy has it been a busy summer. I realized that there are about a million things that I haven't blogged about, most of which I've forgotten and prolly never really mattered anyway. I've realized that this blog is actually my version of journaling, so I only write things I want to remember.

The best part of the past couple months was when Sharon came into town and I got to throw her a baby shower!She is the best sister ever and pretty much the most adorable pregnant person. And I threw a pretty good shower, if I do say so myself.
I can't wait to see her in December, a week after Baby is due!
Ok I made the cupcakes, the diaper cake and the blanket all on my own. I'm so proud of myself.


Also exciting: my bfffffff Marissa got her mission call! She will be leaving me forever on Nov 10 to serve on Temple Square in Salt Lake! haha. Although she really left me already since she's spending the rest of her time until then in Texas. I miss her. :( We were so lucky to be able to go through the temple with her a few weeks ago. It was a great experience.

Lance and I have been doing all sorts of fun things before the summer runs away. We tubed down the Provo River for the first time-- it was freezing!

We went to the Utah County Fair and the Utah State Fair-- the state fair was so cool! They had a white tiger, and a giant yellow slide. Totally worth the 2 bucks per person. We have also gone shooting a couple times and just tried to be outside a lot-- it will be cold soon! We went to an outdoor play, Huck Finn, up in Park City with Lance's sister. It was super good. We also went fishing in the Provo River a couple weeks back. I didnt catch any fish and I actually lost one of Lance's lures. :( Good thing he loves me :). Im back in school this semester after a two week break at the end of the summer. I LOVE my classes this semester. My favorites are Family Finance, Cooking and Marriage Enhancement. Also, its that time: BYU football!! Unfortunately, with our freshman quarterback the beginning of our season has been less than stellar, and we are now 1-3. Its ok, i have faith the we will get better.

Last week we went on a hike to Stewart Falls with our Webelos den. It was so beautiful with the fall colors and we had a great time. Also nobody drowned.
What a good looking bunch of kids. :)

Things we are looking forward to: Fall! (and everything that comes with it, especially sweaters and cute boots), Halloween (we are planning on going home to CO), General Conference next week and Lance's parents coming to visit, and Christmas!! (I know its early, but we just bought our plane tickets this week!). I also have my first midterm this week, not much fun. But October is going to be a great month!

Happy times!!

Lance and I have been having the best summer. My family came out to visit for the fourth of July. We had such a great time, shooting and fireworks and eating and all other sorts of fun things. I didn't take any pictures though :(. Lance and I went to the Stadium of Fire and saw Carrie Underwood preform, along with a great patriotic service. We were way at the top row of the stadium but we were lucky because we had an amazing view of one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. It was gorgeous and made the night perfect.







We went camping up in Provo Canyon the weekend before the Fourth. Lance knew a really cool spot right by the river. It was beautiful and we had a great time, even though Lance cut his finger pretty bad. Good thing he had his first aid kit. It's almost healed now. We also hiked Stewart Falls for the second time about a month ago. We found the tree were Lance carved our names last October, which was actually the first time we ever talked about getting married. Time flies :). It was a great hike.







This weekend we celebrated Marissa's 21st birthday! Since she refuses to ever actually let me celebrate with her on her actually birthday, we had to put it off a couple days. We went to Seven Peaks Water Park with her and Andy. We had an absolute blast, even though Lance and I got sunburned pretty bad. Why the heck do we go tanning then? Useless.





We found out a couple weeks ago that my sister Sharon is having a baby girl!! Even though I was convinced it would be a boy I am sooo excited. She and Andrew are coming out here for a weekend in August and I am throwing her a shower! Everyone is invited :). I made her some adorable burp rags on my new sewing machine (easy enough for an amateur like me) and I also just finished making her a baby quilt. It is super cute (denim, pink and green) but I don't have any pics yet. Right now I am working on making a matching pillow with the extra fabric. I can't wait to have another niece.



We finally got our wedding pictures and printed and hung them around the house. I love them. I finished the wedding photo album but I'm still working on the scrapbook. Lots of pictures.

This week Lance's parents are coming to visit. I am excited but have a ton to do, especially cleaning. They are actually staying up in Park City to watch our niece Gracie for the weekend. PS we also have our first nephew, Cal Johnny Brunson. He is so adorable. Good job Shay and Britta. I can't wait to meet him.

I have so much going on this week with school too. Finals are only a couple weeks away and there is lots to do. I suspect we will be very busy for a while! But we are absolutely loving life. We are the luckiest :)